The Texas Rangers have acquired 33-year old lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez from the Orioles for a player to be named later. Gonzalez pitched in 49 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 2-2 with 1 save, a 4.27 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He has now pitched in 380 games (0 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 17-21 with 56 saves, a 2.89 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Gonzalez has only given up 277 hits in his first 351 2/3 innings in the majors while whiffing 407 batters, which is outstanding. He has walked 161 batters though, so he does have control issues at times. Still, Gonzalez should team with Darren Oliver to give the Rangers a couple of nasty relievers from the left side in September.

UPDATE: The Rangers will send 26-year old righty reliever Pedro Strop to the Orioles to complete this deal. Strop pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this year and he was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He pitched in 33 games (0 starts) in his three years with the Rangers and he was 0-1 with a 7.24 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP. The Rangers have a lot of relievers that they like better than Strop, so they like this deal from their end of it.

The Rangers have acquired 35-year old righty swinging catcher Matt Treanor from the Royals ofr cash considerations. Treanor has played in 65 games for the Royals this year and he was 42 for 186 (.226 avg, .658 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 425 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 263 for 1,159 (.227 avg, .627 OPS) with 109 runs scored, 16 homers, 118 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Treanor is familiar with the Rangers’ pitching staff as he played for them last year. Treanor played in 82 games for the Rangers last year and he was 50 for 237 (.211 avg, .595 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 5 homers, 27 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Treanor will serve as the Rangers’ #3 catcher the rest of the year behind Yorvit Torrealba and Mike Napoli.

The Rangers have placed 28-year old righty reliever Darren O’Day on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 25th, due to right shoulder inflammation. O’Day has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. He has now pitched in 149 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Rangers and he is 8-4 with 2 saves, a 2.40 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. O’Day is a solid reliever, so the Rangers hope he will get back soon to help them win the A.L. West.

The Rangers have released 24-year old righty reliever Ryan Tucker. Tucker pitched in 29 games (8 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 3-5 with 2 saves, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Tucker walked 31 batters and he gave up 79 hits in only 68 1/3 innings in the minors this year, so he displayed a lack of control while not missing many bats. This is not much of a loss for the Rangers.

The Rangers have called up 23-year old lefty swinging CF Leonys Martin. They just signed him earlier this year and started him out in the minors. Martin played in 73 games in Rookie+AA+AAA-ball for the Rangers and he was 89 for 302 (.295 avg, .783 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 4 homers, 42 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Rangers aren’t calling Martin up to sit him on the bench, so look for him to share time in CF with Endy Chavez.

29-year old righty swinging 2B Ian Kinsler’s batting average is down a bit, but he has still been very productive for the Rangers in 2011. Kinsler has played in 129 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 126 for 515 (.245 avg, .788 OPS) with 92 runs scored, 21 homers, 60 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. This is the 3rd time in Kinsler’s first six years that he has had at least 20 homers and 20 steals in the same season. One of those years, he was a 30/30 man. The Rangers need Kinsler to finish this season strongly.

The Texas Rangers will be without 30-year old righty swinging RF Nelson Cruz for the next 3 weeks due to a strained hamstring. Cruz has played in 113 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 117 for 433 (.270 avg, .853 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 28 homers, 84 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. 29-year old lefty swinging outfielder David Murphy will likely start in RF until Cruz is ready to return to action. Murphy has played in 93 games so far this year and he is 74 for 300 (.247 avg, .662 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. I think Murphy will do a solid job while Cruz is out of action, but the Rangers will miss Cruz’ power.

UPDATE: (8/31/2011) – The Rangers have placed Nelson Cruz on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to August 29th.

35-year old Yoshinori Tateyama really knows how to pitch and that trumps the fact that he doesn’t have a big time fastball. Tateyama has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 2-0 with 1 save, a 2.77 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He has only given up 27 hits in his first 39 innings pitched this year while whiffing 40 batters, which is impressive. Even more impressive is his pinpoint control as he has only walked 7 batters so far this year. Tateyama is one of the first relievers in when the starter has trouble, but he won’t get to pitch late in games that the Rangers are winning as they have a lockdown back end of the bullpen.

29-year old lefty swinging outfielder David Murphy is having a rough time so far in 2011. Coming into this season, Murphy played in 440 games in his first five years in the majors and he was 393 for 1,393 (.282 avg, .802 OPS) with 200 runs scored, 47 homers, 212 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. The Rangers thought that Murphy would keep on rolling along in 2011, but it hasn’t been the case. Murphy has played in 86 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 68 for 280 (.243 avg, .637 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 5 homers, 23 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Rangers are still holding out hope that Murphy will finish the 2011 season strongly.

The Rangers have acquired 28-year old righty reliever Tim Wood from the Pirates for a player to be named later or cash. Wood pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Pirates early this year and he was 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. He has now pitched in 57 games (0 starts) in parts of three years in the majors and he is 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Rangers have sent Wood to AAA for now but they will probably call him up when rosters expand on September 1st.

UPDATE: (8/31/2011) – The Rangers have designated Tim Wood for assignment. He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers and he was 0-0 with 1 save, a 9.64 ERA and a 2.57 WHIP.